Leather, air and cruise for £250

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Could I be the King of the Council Estate?

 

The interior reminds me of those awful grey slip on shoes schoolteachers used to wear.

 

And it's got an MOT! Maybe I should add some chrome arches and one of those £99 Irish plates for the full Council look?

[pompei]

Lovely shitey collection of rubbish in the door pocket

[reallyloud]

Quality motah. I do like these, great looking and exceptional value. And as you correctly noticed, currently seen on every council estate in the country - its kind of taken over the E30 as the 'mean streets' car of choice as the E36 is frankly pants.

[MrRegieRitmo]

What about the E34??

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

What about the E34??

Less room on da back seat for da Staffy, innit?E34's are probably just as scummy really. I pride myself on door pockets rammed with shite - fag packets and McDonalds wrappers add to the overall ambience and councilness.

[Rocket88]

The problem is that these are actually good cars, but not as good as the greatly under rated, and equally as grey inside, Mk2 Vauxhall Senator . I've had 3 of them, all of them cost about 9p, and they are magnificent mixture of naffness and brilliance

[pogweasel]

Delicious. I have been eyeing up these 7-series for a while now (now that I can actually afford to insure/run one). Saw a lovely mint one a few weeks ago that had my wallet itching. Council chic FTW. (also tempted by the later model, 740i with individual pack & all the toys for less than a 2-year old Kia Picanto? Oh yes!)

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Ha ha, chrome arches and paddy plates on these are a class act. Maybe a cock-eyed and totally unconvincing 'V12' badge would go down well too.

 

 

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

The problem is that these are actually good cars, but not as good as the greatly under rated, and equally as grey inside, Mk2 Vauxhall Senator . I've had 3 of them, all of them cost about 9p, and they are magnificent mixture of naffness and brilliance

You've got to be kidding? Noooo, the Senator was a very good car but had the build quality of a plastic biro - or an Astra, whichever is the more shite. They were good looking and fast but rusted very badly and had digital instruments. Vauxhall leather was like one of those 99p leather jackets. The 24v cars had various timing chain issues iirc.As new cars the BMW's were much better (as befits the price tag), but at this level they're all worthless shite one owner away from the yard of doom.Looks like a new victim is coming for the Grey Beast later on. I already have a nice E32 (honest) and don't really need another.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Ha ha, chrome arches and paddy plates on these are a class act. Maybe a cock-eyed and totally unconvincing 'V12' badge would go down well too.

 

 

That's stunning - I wish that were mine. Nice, nice car and testefully enhanced too.

By the way my grey thing was £150, not £250. The joy of Ebay!!

I've raped some bits for mine, notably the nearly new JVC CD player and the mint boot carpets and the new BMW battery which has been replaced by a part worn item.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Looks like a new victim is coming for the Grey Beast later on. I already have a nice E32 (honest) and don't really need another.

Oh.....I assumed this was you showing us a car you'd just acquired! Which is the E32?

[Rocket88]

The problem is that these are actually good cars, but not as good as the greatly under rated, and equally as grey inside, Mk2 Vauxhall Senator . I've had 3 of them, all of them cost about 9p, and they are magnificent mixture of naffness and brilliance

You've got to be kidding? Noooo, the Senator was a very good car but had the build quality of a plastic biro - or an Astra, whichever is the more shite. They were good looking and fast but rusted very badly and had digital instruments. Vauxhall leather was like one of those 99p leather jackets. The 24v cars had various timing chain issues iirc.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Looks like a new victim is coming for the Grey Beast later on. I already have a nice E32 (honest) and don't really need another.

Oh.....I assumed this was you showing us a car you'd just acquired! Which is the E32?

Sorry, the grey one was aquired 2-3 weeks ago. Just shows what's about for bicycle money!

[r.welfare]

Fantastic car, and what value!The early 3.0/3.5 sixes are pretty bullet proof with camchains rather than belts. Autoboxes tend to self-destruct if revved in neutral or park though. I'd love a manual 735, but they are very hard to come by. The only manuals I've seen have been white 730s with beige cloth trim (usually hanging off).Later V8s suffered with the Nikasil bore wear issue, but they should have all been replaced under warranty by now.What's more interesting is that W140 Merc S-Classes (the big, square one) are beginning to gravitate down to the grand level. Mmmm. And the early (4-litre) Lexus LS400 is seriously cheap too.If you can get one of these big exec cruisers for silly money that has had a handful of caring, sympathetic owners who have serviced them properly then I can't think of a better way to travel - albeit thirstily - at the bangernomic level.PS Our council dwellers are perhaps more affluent down these parts - the early E46 (S/T reg) appears to be the chariot of choice if the number of sproglets < requiring an early Zafira.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Newbury eh? Many moons ago I lived in Bucklebury, worked at Murray & Whittaker (VW) and Nias (Austin Rover). It's changed a lot in the last 10 years. I can't believe the old Tech college has gone.I had a manual 735i last year, same colour as this one and I drive a Royal blue one as an everyday car. They are rare though.You're right about E46's though. The advent of 'no name no blame' car credit has allowed some very unsavoury sorts to drive a decent car. How many 56 plate Astras have you seen being driven by some sportswear clad, tattoed meathead with a pallid scrunchy wife and a brood of little bastards on the rear seat? Oh, and add an ENGER-LAAAND footy air freshener into the mix.Seems to me the shitters are all driven by clued up types like ourselves!

[AnthonyG]

Any W140 purchased for £1000 would be a fool's bargain I reckon, these are seriously expensive and technologically complicated cars to look after/repair and they are not exactly common in breaker's yards.On the other hand a very reasonable w126 (the 1980's S class) could be found for £1000, particularly the straight six cars. A guy on retro rides picked up a 1988 500 that had been sitting on a drive for £100, although it has yet to run properly due to a knackered immobiliser.A lot of chrome arch shitters /chav wedding hacks out there though.

[Timewaster]

Senator was a very good car but had the build quality of a plastic biro - or an Astra, whichever is the more shite.

Its the Astra!!

[r.welfare]

Newbury eh? Many moons ago I lived in Bucklebury, worked at Murray & Whittaker (VW) and Nias (Austin Rover). It's changed a lot in the last 10 years. I can't believe the old Tech college has gone.

Aha! So you lived in Bucklebury, worked in the motor trade, but never worked at that pinnacle of motor trading in Bucklebury - Peaches Garage, Lada dealer of Berkshire par excellence? Murray & Whittaker is a name from the past - were you based up at the top end of Bartholomew Street (now a motorbike dealer and, I understand it, a brothel above it) or - and I may not have this right - down the bottom end of Northbrook St by the clocktower?NIAS is another great name long-gone, now the site of Newbury's Merc dealership. An impressive place, but not as impressive as Penta, the BL dealer in Reading (which now has a Morrisons on the site), which I recall impressed an RW in distinctly short trousers back in the early 80s.Tech College has of course relocated, like the hospital, to greenfield sites out of town and both look like, architecturally, they belong in downtown Baghdad...

I had a manual 735i last year, same colour as this one and I drive a Royal blue one as an everyday car. They are rare though.

You lucky bugger! Does it have leather? That must be the pinnacle of 7-series enjoyment. I think I'd prefer a manual 'box in one of these, just as I would in an XJ40 - easier to bump start.

Any W140 purchased for £1000 would be a fool's bargain I reckon, these are seriously expensive and technologically complicated cars to look after/repair and they are not exactly common in breaker's yards.

Don't disagree with you old boy - but if said car had proof of being looked after, it should be good for a few months/years trouble-free motoring. Of course, you take a chance, and have to be prepared to write off the costs if something big does go pop. Not that I will buy one, mind, 'cos they ain't a diesel Peugeot of course...

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I spent a summer in @1982 (or was it 1892?) working at Peaches - my first ever job. Old man Peach drove a greensand Daimler Sovereign XJ6 - if you bought fuel there in the early to mid eighties you may recall the barking mad attendant, a funny little bloke who drove a Reliant Regal. He was completely barking. The hot summer of 81/2 was spent polishing new and used Ladas - the smell of Russian vinyl!Not far from Peaches was a farm rammed with old cars - drive from Peaches towards Thatcham, turn right at the fork towards Cold Ash (where I worked at Black and White garage in 83-84), then first right at the crossroads - that road took you to Lower Bucklebury and the farm was down the hill on the left. I worked at the proper Murray and Whittaker which was a stones' throw from the old Gowrings. It was next to the petrol station on the roundabout where Newtown road met Andover road. We're going back to 1986 now. Nias was indeed where the Merc dealer is now, same aqctual building. Newbury Instant Motors were the Vauxhall dealer on Faraday road. You may recall the old Hewens Fiat garage in Thatcham as well as Browns the Austin Morris agent.I lived there from 1982 to 1988. I'd just been to the Ford garage in Hungerford to collect a part one day in 1987, and saw about 10 Police cars coming into Hungerford - that was Michael Ryan doing his Rambo act.I liked Newbury a lot, shame houses are so sodding expensive!

[MrRegieRitmo]

Looks like a new victim is coming for the Grey Beast later on.

Are you moving it on already or did you buy to sell?

[r.welfare]

I spent a summer in @1982 (or was it 1892?) working at Peaches - my first ever job. Old man Peach drove a greensand Daimler Sovereign XJ6 - if you bought fuel there in the early to mid eighties you may recall the barking mad attendant, a funny little bloke who drove a Reliant Regal. He was completely barking. The hot summer of 81/2 was spent polishing new and used Ladas - the smell of Russian vinyl!

Memories, memories!I seem to recall Old Man Peach had a big white dog of some description, that used to eat the interiors of the Rivas in the showroom. My mum bought Ladas there in '81 (1200 estate), '86 (Riva 1200L) and '90 (Samara), then a Rover Metro in '93. We always dealt with Peach Jnr who was a bit, erm, oily really. Later they took over the old Browns site in Thatcham for the Proton bit, didn't last. I think they sell Hyundai and Daihatsu now.Hewens...rings a slight bell, I assume that's the one on the A4 opposite the doctor's surgery? It ended up becoming a Jap import place when that was in vogue in the mid-late 90s...then the Flaherty brothers who ran it (one of whom did rallycross in a 6R4) went bankrupt.Black & White lost the franchise a few years back but is still in existence as an Alfa specialist - there's a huge number of cars up there, I'd be interested to know how they keep going to be honest! Newbury Instant Motors is still there, albeit under a new name, with Ashmore Green having relocated next door...along with Saab and Mazda.I'm amazed that Peter Stirland Ltd still has the Ford franchise in Hungerford - the showroom is tiny. Ford have long had a policy of edging out small dealership players in favour of the big groups. I remember the old Gowrings as well...so M&W must have been alongside it, on the 'old' A34? Where the Sainsbury's/Halfords/Burger King are now.And you don't need to tell me about house prices...

[MrRegieRitmo]

Newbury Instant Motors

Just add water?

[r.welfare]

Newbury Instant Motors

Just add water?

No - just add Vauxhalls. Then, just add bankruptcy

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

I spent a summer in @1982 (or was it 1892?) working at Peaches - my first ever job. Old man Peach drove a greensand Daimler Sovereign XJ6 - if you bought fuel there in the early to mid eighties you may recall the barking mad attendant, a funny little bloke who drove a Reliant Regal. He was completely barking. The hot summer of 81/2 was spent polishing new and used Ladas - the smell of Russian vinyl!

Memories, memories!I seem to recall Old Man Peach had a big white dog of some description, that used to eat the interiors of the Rivas in the showroom. My mum bought Ladas there in '81 (1200 estate), '86 (Riva 1200L) and '90 (Samara), then a Rover Metro in '93. We always dealt with Peach Jnr who was a bit, erm, oily really. Later they took over the old Browns site in Thatcham for the Proton bit, didn't last. I think they sell Hyundai and Daihatsu now.Hewens...rings a slight bell, I assume that's the one on the A4 opposite the doctor's surgery? It ended up becoming a Jap import place when that was in vogue in the mid-late 90s...then the Flaherty brothers who ran it (one of whom did rallycross in a 6R4) went bankrupt.Black & White lost the franchise a few years back but is still in existence as an Alfa specialist - there's a huge number of cars up there, I'd be interested to know how they keep going to be honest! Newbury Instant Motors is still there, albeit under a new name, with Ashmore Green having relocated next door...along with Saab and Mazda.I'm amazed that Peter Stirland Ltd still has the Ford franchise in Hungerford - the showroom is tiny. Ford have long had a policy of edging out small dealership players in favour of the big groups. I remember the old Gowrings as well...so M&W must have been alongside it, on the 'old' A34? Where the Sainsbury's/Halfords/Burger King are now.And you don't need to tell me about house prices...

Murray & Whittaker;Up the old A34 dual carriageway until you got to Gowrings on the roundabout where first exit went up to the Greenham estate, second exit goes straight on up the old A34. Take third exit (right) along to the next roundabout and M&W were on that roundabout on the last exit going back into town. That road went over the railway and past Fawcetts (Volvo).I recall the two Flaherty brothers. They called themselves Hallmark and it ran in three stages. First was selling shite like Marinas and general shit, then they started selling Porsches and big dollar performance stuff and finally Mitsubishi. Until 1985 that was Hewens but they went scat and Black and White took over the Fiat franchise - in fact they both sold Fiats for around a year. Next to Hewens/Hallmark was another used car place run by a character called Dave Guardhouse (Guard Dog) and my Dad set up a drive-in Crypton tuning place around the back called The Car Clinic in 1986. This moved in 1987 to another garage along the A4 towards Newbury - basically go towards Newbury from Hewens and within 1/2 mile you come to a set of lights where you can turn right to go up towards Ashmore Green and Cold Ash. Go across those lights and immediately on the right is a filling station. This used to be a Q8 garage with a big building - my Dad was there along with Peter Osborne and a used car dealer whose name escapes me for now. That site was originally a Rover Triumph garage in the 60's and 70's run by the Keene brothers.Ashmore Green garage was a Skoda dealer in the seventies and eighties.Black and White told Alfa GB to get stuffed (as most dealers did). Alfa GB hve no loyalty at all to UK dealers and B&W took on an Alfa franchise in 1979, braved the shit storms for well over 20 years and got shafted. They do sell a lot of cars.Hungerford Garage is another little garage that has so far stayed in business unspoilt - well, it was there a year ago! No doubt BMW will want them to move to an enormous 2 acre glass palace anytime soon as befits the marque.....I bet you can't recall the Thatcham Yugo dealer in 1983? It lasted one year and went phut.You may also recall the original Gordon Passey scrapyard. Not the miserable place at the end of the Turnpike road industrial estate but The Big One. Basically Gordon's original yard occupied the entire plot of land that the industrial estate is on now - it was f'king massive with around 2000 cars. It closed in 1984 to be redeveloped and Gordon kept a small plot - the last time I went in 2005 it looked like he was clearing it out. The stuff in the original Passey's yard was incredible and at the very, very back was stuff that had been there since 1965 when he started up.

[STUNO]

You two have probably met as pimply-faced yoofs !I wish I could remember the 70's

[r.welfare]

Steady STUNO, I'm only 30!M&W is where I thought it was. Fawcett's was on Bartholomew St, forgot about that.Ashmore Green sold up about 5 years back and turned the plot into (expensive) housing. I think the Piper brothers (who ran it - I went to school with one of the daughters...ugly but minted!) own shitloads of land thereabouts so no longer needed to sell Skodas anyway...I know the Q8 garage well - but never realised it used to be a Rover Triumph dealer way back. Weird that a small town like Thatcham would have had two BLMC dealers within a mile of each other, with CG Brown doing Austin/Morris in the town centre - and NIAS a couple of miles up the road as well! The pumps are long gone, and the site sells ex-fleet crap. BMW Hungerford have built a new showroom opposite their old one, and (predictably) it's the usual corporate glass monstrosity which looks awful in picturesque Hungerford.Your dad's place must have started out next to the Snooker Club and Muttram's Cycles then?Old Man Passey died a couple of years back, a very very wealthy man. Apparently in addition to all the land and property he owned locally (the latter housed his many mistresses!), there were containers full of old Rollers, Jags, Jensens and the like up there. Legend has it they were spirited away by members of the family to avoid Inheritance Tax! Not sure if the yard is still open.Where on earth was the Yugo dealer? I remember the Yugo UK HQ in Reading...

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Gordon Passey also ran (or funded) a horse welfare charity. Despite the oily gruff exterior he was a decent bloke but you had to get him on the right day.The best scrappies after Passeys scaled down was Haynes of Challow near Wantage. It's just full of rubbish now but it used to be a superb hunting ground. Back in my Mini days I'd give Bert Haynes £100 and then strip a Mark 1 Mini to a bare shell, loading everything into a Transit. The Yugo garage was on that corner where the Thatcham one way street comes out onto the A4. Yes, the Snooker club (with a Yank theme I think?) was the Dave Guarddog used car emporium. Standing in front of it, there's a space about 20-30 feet wide on the right between it and the house next door - at the end of the building is a double door and that's where we were.The BLMC thing goes way back when every marque had its own dealer. Nias was Nuffield/Morris, Browns were Austin and Keenes were Triumph and Rover. Even in the late eighties the brothers drove a Stag, a Rover 2600 and a Toledo.Im 40 now, but used to spend many an evening up on the Greenham Estate which was a real shithole back then. Do you recall the incident where a wheelie bin was dropped off a railway bridge at Beenham? Would have been mid 1987.

[reallyloud]

The best scrappies after Passeys scaled down was Haynes of Challow near Wantage. It's just full of rubbish now but it used to be a superb hunting ground. Back in my Mini days I'd give Bert Haynes £100 and then strip a Mark 1 Mini to a bare shell, loading everything into a Transit.

Agreed! But it still throws up the occasional surprise. I think the yard has changed hands but I discovered a R30 and R4 F6 fairly recently both have been of some benefit to guys on this forum. They still have interesting cars, I know of a ex BT commer van and hillman husky being saved due to the owners knowledge of classics.The Passeys also owned a scrapyard near RAF Benson in the early 90's, of which I was a frequent visitor.

[Milford Cubicle]

Soup-herb buy! Very menacing in a dull shade and wearing standard wheels.

[r.welfare]

The local scrapyards have pretty much gone now. Padworth has been the only one I have frequented, and even that was cleared about 5yrs back for housing, however it is apparently open again. LA Breakers up at Headley has also been cleared (behind Headley Tyres - the mechanic I've used for the last 11yrs is based next door to it).

 

I know where you mean re. the Yugo dealer, opposite Livesey's. That became a Hyundai dealer later in the 80s, not unusual to see shiny Stellars outside as I went up above it to the dentist's, or around the other side to the barber's. Now it's a curry house! The ATS opposite Park Lane has been closed for ages too.

 

The Greenham Estate is still troublesome (I assume you mean Nightingales and it's environs) but not as bad. I used to badger my dad to drive back past the Airbase when we'd been to Newbury (waving at the guards along the fences) and detour down to the USAAF housing so I could ogle the Yank tanks - Ford Fairmonts and LTDs, Chevy Caprices and the like, plus US-spec Celicas, Golfs and Fiestas, bizarrely. One assumes most of them ended up in Passey's once the crews all went back to the States in '92. I'd be quite keen to live down there now - the houses are huge as they were built to US spec, it's a lovely spot in the Pigeons Farm woods, and there's plenty of parking for tat. Shame that it's now inhabited by the Housing Association's most notorious residents, driving the kind of cars that we were talking about at the start of the post.

 

Here's some prime shite I found at the gatehouse from 1983 - Colt Galant or Toyota Carina?

Seeing SL's scrapyard photos of similar USDM tin in Norfolk (presumably from Mildenhall/Lakenheath) makes me wonder what might have been! I think I'll try and get to Challow at some point in the future though, thanks for the heads-up chaps. Great driving road between Newbury and Wantage, the B4009 is, as well...